Orlando 2013 - Days 9-10

Day 10 was a rest day. After a bit of early morning pool activity, our friends went off shopping to a mall, and we went off to the local Wal Mart to stock up for tea, as we were cooking.
And that apart, was about that. A pretty lazy, but very enjoyable day.
Today we hit the I4 south again as we headed to Tampa and Busch Gardens. We all love Busch. It's got some good animal stuff and some great coasters.
It's probably worth just mentioning at this point how easy driving in the US is. Everything is pretty well signposted, and with a sat nav (I've been using "Co-Pilot on my iPhone), it's pretty much impossible to go wrong, We've driven a lot - round Orlando, down to Miami, across to Tampa, and we haven't really been troubled once.
First up, we did the newest coaster, Cheetah Hunt. When I say "we", I mean me and my daughter. Our friends had got a little lost looking for another ride, and my wife and son are not coaster fans. Nor is my daughter, but she was determined to do this. It was great. Not the biggest by a long way, but fast and twisty with only one loop.
After that we did "Rhino Rally" a sort of cheesy safari ride in a jeep. It was a bit disappointing because they'd halved the ride to make space for the Cheetah Hunt ride.
On from there we had a virtual walk on to the "Kumba" coaster - old now but still a favourite. Next door we all did the "Congo River Rapids" tube ride and all got very, very wet! Then we wandered down and did the log flume at "Stanley Falls", before the big one. Sheikra. This monster coaster has to be seen to be believed. 8 across in three tiered seats it takes you steeply up 200ft, before hanging you over a vertical drop for a few seconds and then let's you go. It's a short ride, but as they say here "totally awesome!".
After a quick lunch, we took the cable car to the Egypt area and rode on the second biggie, "Montu". By then, with the temps in the high 90's°F we'd had enough and started home.
As we drove north on the I4 the sky darkened and we were treated to a spectacular lightning show. just as we arrived back at the villa resort, the heavens opened. I've literally never seen rain like it - ever! We must have had about 3-4 inches in about half an hour. The pool, normally has a lip of about 4 inches before the water. Now it looks like an infinity pool. Staggering.
Storms passing now, so we might get some pool time in. Eating in again tonight, so beer and a chill.
A good day.

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